Washington Post (Again) on the Debt Revolt

Last week the Washington Post informed us that voters are “up in arms over the mounting federal debt”– and thus politicians were being forced to scale back a newbill that would, among other things, extend unemployment benefits and send money to state governments facing serious budget shortfalls. This made little sense, since polls do not show public urgency about the debt or deficit; in fact, dealing with jobs is considered a much higher priority.

No matter. The Post has a piece today (5/27/10)–by the same reporter, Lori Montgomery–that begins, “Under fire from rank-and-file Democrats worried about the soaring national debt…” No such Democrats are quoted in the piece. Republican leader Mitch McConnell complains that, when it comes to the debt, “Democrats only seem interested in making it worse.” Democrats Steny Hoyer and Harry Reid are said to believe the bill will pass, but do not believe they will muster much–if any–Republican support.

So the Post started by telling us that voters were “up in arms” over deficit spending. Now we’re told that many Democrats feel the same way. In neither case does the Post give us much of a reason to believe this is true.

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Activism Director and and Co-producer of CounterSpinPeter Hart is the activism director at FAIR. He writes for FAIR's magazine Extra! and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR's syndicated radio show CounterSpin. He is the author of The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly (Seven Stories Press, 2003). Hart has been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Associated Press. He has also appeared on Showtime and in the movie Outfoxed. Follow Peter on Twitter at @peterfhart.